Long time smoker, First time grower (been 1 week)

I bought some cheap equipment to give growing a try, 2 UV lamps, 36 individual squares on a sheet, pre soil'd, 2 plastic containers for the big plants (1 with holes, the other for excess water drip-off) and soil.

About 5-6 days ago i planted 10 seeds straight into the soil without prep and left the light on 24 hrs/day.

Just this past night, 2 of my plants sprouted, so you can imagine my excitement. I have a very very simple set up, with a water proof base and 2 white boards covered in plastic wrap on each side.

What advice could you guys give me, should i keep the lights on 24 till some others sprout? should i switch to 18/6 decreasing at 1 hour intervals? Do i really need fertilizer and how soon? What is the best method for thin stems, highly potent plants?

Also what are my options for harvesting? I don't think i can have a plant that's more than 2 feet without getting caught, what's the earliest and latest i could/should harvest?

thanks for the help, cheers!
-hairy jay-

Jay, there are many places to find guides to answer these questions. Unfortunately, only the people really dedicated to this site type up long paragraphs of instruction, but there are several tutorials that answer lots of questions about the process.
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/937-how-grow-marijuana.html

after reading through this, if you still have more questions, ask again

it's too early for you to even think about the harvest man.and i agree with dRugged (nice nicname btw )

right now i've got 2 plants about 2-3 inches tall, a 2-day old sproutling, a brand new sproutling, and i just planted 9 germinated seeds yesterday

i'm think that my nursery is doing well, but i'm going to need more lights and another 2nd setup up for growing the actual monsters... hopefully i figure it all out

get a fan on them, then you won't have thin stems. it'll strengthen them instead! water every 3-4 days, no nutes or ferts for first 3 weeks.

You sure its a UV light? If so, toss it. Even CFL's will be a better choice.
You really want visible light spectrum. UV is the ugly/nasty stuff that causes cancer and the such. at the other end of the spectrum is IR, thats basically heat, also not wanted.


Hunt around and do read the growfaq, along with the stickies in the forums. GREAT info in dem!!

BigBudBalls said:

You sure its a UV light? If so, toss it. Even CFL's will be a better choice.
You really want visible light spectrum. UV is the ugly/nasty stuff that causes cancer and the such. at the other end of the spectrum is IR, thats basically heat, also not wanted.


Hunt around and do read the growfaq, along with the stickies in the forums. GREAT info in dem!!

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right, but you might want to search around for UVB lights. they can be beneficial to your plants.

oh and i almost forgot one of the most important tools- get a ph meter. I would say a digital one is best because you can easily identify between 6.1 (not good) and 6.3 (good). I dont have one yet and my plant is suffering from too much acidity or basicity. this is crucial to almost every grower unless they use purely organic ferts I think. I wouldnt wouldnt that last sentence as definate truth but thats what it seems like to me. can someone confirm? but you will definately need a ph meter.

if you can't spend much money, 4' florescent shop lights cost around $10 at walmart, they work, but you'll get a skimpy harvest. If you can afford it get a 400w HPS.
you should keep a fan to keep the air moveing.

jack tripper said:

if you can't spend much money, 4' florescent shop lights cost around $10 at walmart, they work, but you'll get a skimpy harvest. If you can afford it get a 400w HPS.
you should keep a fan to keep the air moveing.

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What TRIPPER said . . . I kept myself in free stash for 3 decades using shoplights.

Be sure you check the prices for HID at High Tech Garden Supply as I was quite surprised at just how affordable "real" gro-lights can be.
I think ones lighting needs depend on their intentions.